United States: He solves a 1980 crime while recovering from Covid

On January 24, 1980, around 6:50 p.m., the Barton County, Kansas Sheriff’s Office received a call to report a murder. When police arrive at a neighborhood of caravans in Great Bend, they find the body of Mary Robin Walter in one of them. The 23-year-old, married mother of one and nursing student was shot multiple times in her home.

Investigators were able to identify the victim’s next-door neighbor, Steven Hanks, 26, as a “person of interest.” But apparently, they could not gather enough evidence against him. More than a year after the murder, this man broke into a colleague’s house and started kissing her. KSN. Four months later, he entered the same woman’s home again with a knife. He was convicted in 1983 for criminal trespass, assault, attempted rape and other offences. He was imprisoned and paroled in 1992 “Wichita Eagle”.

But there was nothing concrete about Mary Robin Walter’s murder, until April 2022, when Detective Adam Hales of the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, who had recovered from Covid, took advantage of it. To see the case, explains. KWCH. He observed that information was ignored at the time and that others were added to the file without actually being examined. He showed his findings to the sheriff, who decided to put several police officers on the case.

In October, the team found new evidence and submitted it to the prosecutor. After a four-week investigation, he issued an arrest warrant against Steven Hanks, 68, of Burton, Kansas, for second-degree murder. On December 8, the suspect was arrested and jailed on $500,000 bail.

After 42 years and 10 months, the case has become the oldest cold case ever solved in the state of Kansas. While the victim’s daughter says she forgave her mother’s killers years ago, the victim’s daughter-in-law thanked investigators for catching the killer. Mary Robin Walter’s parents, husband and sister are now deceased.